Birdie #2
I sighed. “He asked me to stay with him at the ranch. He has his family, and said he’d hire a nanny if he needed to, but that I’m the only one he really trusts to keep her safe right now.”
Mae’s eyebrow quirked, and she smiled. “So you’re staying out there? Please tell me this is a situation where he only has one bed…”
“Mae!”
“Well?”
I felt heat creep up into my face. “I mean, yeah. But we’ve slept in the same bed a million times together. He actually loves cuddles—don’t tell him I told you—and I always feel…well, it’s dumb.”
“It’s not dumb. However it makes you feel to be there with him, it’s not dumb.”
I nodded. “It’s just that when I’m with him, I’m not the only one carrying the burden of everything that’s on my shoulders.
Lainey, my mom, stuff at work. Beau hears it all, and he’s always on my side.
Even if he’ll tease me about being too much of a worrywart.
Or carrying too much and not asking people to help themselves before they turn to me.
And there’s something programmed inside me now that no matter what, whenever I’m with him, I know I’m just… ”
“Safe?”
“Yeah, exactly. I’m safe. It doesn’t feel like that anywhere else in the world.”
“And if you fall in love with that little girl…”
I blew out my breath. “I already have. I’m not guarding my heart when it comes to either of them, Mae. Maybe I’m not family material. Maybe wife and mother aren’t titles I’ll ever hold. But I’ll still love those two just as fiercely as I can.”
“Oh shit.” Mae blinked a few times. “Sorry, these hormones are killing me, and the thought of Beau being such a dummy he can’t see how perfect you are…ugh. Do you need me to talk to him?”
“No! No, we’re good! I promise.”
“Alright, well I love to meddle, and it would give me something to take my mind off of impending labor, but I get it. It probably wouldn’t be helpful for me to push you towards him and chant ‘kiss, kiss, kiss’ until you do.”
“You are too much. I’m not back to work until Tuesday, so no labor until then. I want to be the one to deliver that sweet girl.”
We turned, arm in arm and walked back towards the place where we’d left our guys. No. Oh my God. Not our guys. Where Mae had left her husband, and I’d left Beau.
“Why are you all red?” Beau asked as soon as we got back.
“Mae was making me laugh.”
His eyes dropped to my empty hands. “No special dress then?”
“Nope.”
“Hm.”
“Alright, Cowboy. How about we pay for all these goodies and get back to the ranch so you and Juniper can take a nap.”
“Sounds good to me, Chickadee.”
“He’s already rhyming like a children’s hymn,” Mae teased.
“Congrats again, Beau.” Stone shook his hand.
“Thanks, man. Let us know when you’re up for visitors after your little one arrives.”
“I’ll make Beau bring steaks, and I’ll clean and tidy the entire visit,” I promised.
“Deal!” Mae laughed.
We waved goodbye to them, heading towards the register. After a bill so big I gasped—while Beau just tipped his hat at the sales associate and swiped his card—we were finally on our way out of the store.
“Why don’t you take the baby and get her situated in her car seat?” Beau asked as we walked up to the truck. Her little lashes were fluttering against her rosy cheeks. The way her eyes moved under her eyelids, I knew she was dreaming.
“She’s asleep. We shouldn’t try to transfer her from you to me, and then me to the car seat. You put her in and get her buckled, and I’ll start in on all these bags. For someone who wasn’t sure about getting her clothes, you sure did some damage.”
My laughter was met with a smile as he walked to the tailgate of his truck and lowered it for me. “Yeah, there was this really cute ladybug dress that I just couldn’t resist. Reminded me of one I’d seen before, and it felt special.”
“Well, ladybugs are very lucky.”
“You’ve told me that before,” he whispered. I was sure I had. As a kid, I’d been obsessed with them. But what I didn’t know was that he remembered that.
“And clearly you were a good friend and listened to me.” I tapped his forearm, where he had several small ladybugs tattooed. “Better to get her a matching dress than to wait until she’s old enough for a matching tattoo.”
“That’s never happening,” Beau groaned. “Don’t pick up anything heavy while I get her situated.”
My eyes rolled into the back of my head before I could stop them. “Funny. I’m going to have to change your nickname from Cowboy to Caveman.”
“You can call me whatever you want, as long as you don’t pick up something and hurt yourself on my watch.”
The protective edge in his voice sent a shiver down my spine, even with the warm spring sun shining down on me.
Something pulled in the pit of my stomach as Beau walked away. Glancing back over my shoulder, a man standing off to the side of a vehicle hadn’t just casually caught my eye. No. He was full on staring at me as I turned, moving some of the bags into the back of the truck.
The same man who had been within earshot of me and Mae.
I tried to let it go, ignoring him as I worked to get the rest of the purchases—aside from the largest box that belonged to the bassinet—into the bed of the truck myself.
“Sorry about that. One of the straps in Juniper’s car seat was all tangled, and it took me forever to ease her into her seat without waking her…
” I smiled, but from the way his brows pulled together, I knew he saw right through me.
“What’s going on? You okay?” Beau took the last of the bags from my hands and pushed it deeper into the back of the truck.
“Do you know that man over there?” I asked. Maybe it was someone who recognized Beau, or the Silver Ridge Ranch logo on the side of his truck.
“Over where?”
I turned, ready to face the man who was staring at us, only to see he was gone.
“Oh…I…I must have been wrong. There was this guy standing over there, by the silver SUV. He was watching…I thought he was watching me.”
His hand slipped along my back. “Go get in the truck with Juniper. I’ll finish up with this stuff.”
I nodded, looking over my shoulder again. I couldn’t place him. But I didn’t like the way he watched us. And I didn’t like that the minute Beau came back to stand by me, he was gone.
“Is this Mama Bear instincts?” Beau asked five minutes later, his fingers gripping the steering wheel tightly as he pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the main highway that would take us back to the ranch.
I turned my head away from the window, expecting to see a teasing smile on his face, but there was none.
He was taking what I said very seriously.
“Well, I’m not a mom, so…” I shrugged.
“Birdie.”
“I’m not. I think it was just womanly intuition. I didn’t like the way he was looking at me. The way he watched while you put Juniper in the truck.” I shook my head. “I’m probably overreacting. Just feeling protective of her…”
Beau’s hand came off the steering wheel and covered mine. “I don’t know if I would have even picked up on something like that. Fuck. She’s going to grow up in a world where she has to constantly be on alert like that, isn’t she?”
I didn’t sugar coat things. “Yes. But you’ll teach her how to protect herself. Your brothers will, too. I imagine Colt and Hawk will be great resources for her.”
“And you.”
“Me?”
“You’ll teach her how to trust her instincts.
And how to spot something that might be dangerous.
There are so many things I have the horrific privilege of never experiencing because I’m a man.
I want her to know how dangerous some men can be.
How to keep herself safe if there isn’t someone around that she trusts. I can’t imagine if something…”
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.
“She’s four months old and very, very safe right now. There is plenty to worry about today, but you can take that off your plate. Juniper is safe with you, and that’s what matters.”
Beau blew out a deep breath. “It feels like I have to worry about everything right now. My brain is fucking pissed I didn’t pick up on the guy making you uncomfortable.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“It’s a very big deal, Chickadee.”
I reached over, running my fingers through his hair until I reached his neck. A little light squeeze, and the stubborn man was moaning from my touch.
“Jesus, that feels amazing.”
“You need rest, Beau. When we get home—” there I went, acting like it was all ours again, “—you’re going to go to sleep. I’ll watch over Juniper and get things organized. I’ll make food, too.”
“You’re not her nanny, and you’re not my maid.”
“So you’ve said. But I don’t know, I think I’d look pretty cute in one of those black and white outfits.”
“Christ,” he grumbled.
“What?”
“Just, the picture of that…never mind. I do need to sleep, and I will accept help with Juniper, but I’ll take care of putting her things away and I’ll help with dinner.”
I smiled, my fingers pressing into the tight muscles around his neck again. “Sure thing, Cowboy. Whatever you say.”